A Quiet Answer to Slowing the Spread of Coronavirus

Apr 6, 2020

The coronavirus is making the world a quieter place.

With the stay at home orders, the closed beaches and parks and the shutdown stores except for those that sell groceries, gas or prescriptions, most of the noise associated with the normal hustle and bustle of normal life has been reduced from what it is during the normal noise of life.

Even the earth itself is quieter, despite the 4.6 earthquake that many in San Diego County felt Friday night, and quakes that happen somewhere in the world every day.

A new report says scientists are now actually observing a lot less of what they call ambient seismic noise.That means the vibrations that are generated by cars, trucks and buses on the roads, trains on the tracks, planes taking off and landing at airports and even people, millions of people all around the globe, just going about what used to be their daily lives.

The report says that in the absence of that noise, Earth's upper crust is moving just a little less.

A PhD student at Cal Tech recently posted a graph that showed an especially stark drop in Los Angeles.

These graphs and other scientific observations of human noise like it in other cities in Europe and elsewhere, is seen as evidence that most people appear to following the public health orders to limit their travel and activity.

Now let’s hope that with most everyone doing things that have helped quiet the earth, it leads to the coronavirus being quieted a lot sooner than later.